WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Al Gore called Gen. Colin Powell Friday to express his respect for the Gulf War hero after comments by his campaign manager earlier in the week angered the Republican.

Campaign manager Donna Brazile said earlier this week that Republicans ``would rather take pictures with black children than feed them,'' saying they use Powell and Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, two of the most prominent blacks in the GOP, to improve their image with minorities.

Powell wrote Gore Thursday to say that he was ``disappointed and offended'' about her comments.

Under mounting criticism, Gore called Powell to express his great respect for the general.

``We're friends of long standing ... it was a very friendly and warm conversation,'' Gore said. ``I reaffirmed my total respect and regard for him as an American hero, for him as a national leader and for him as a personal friend.''

The vice president would not say whether he apologized to Powell for Brazile's comment.

Earlier in the day, Brazile, who is also black, had called Powell and let him know that she personally and the Gore campaign consider him ``an American hero.''

``The Republicans bring out Colin Powell and J.C. Watts because they have no program, no policy,'' she said in an interview with Bloomberg.com. ``They play that game because they have no other game. They have no love and no joy. They'd rather take pictures with black children than feed them.''

Gore had stood by his campaign manager Friday morning and publicly praised Powell.

``General Powell is a great hero, who I admire greatly,'' Gore said. ``Having General Powell and Congressman (J.C.) Watts in the Republican Party is, in fact, no substitute for an agenda that supports all of our people, including African-Americans. That is what Donna was trying to say.''

He defended Brazile, saying ``she's doing a great job and she will continue doing a great job.''

Watts, an Oklahoma representative who is chairman of the House Republican Conference, called the comments ``racist.'' Watts said he and Powell have ``worked hard to help African-Americans, especially children.''

GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush called it ``slash-and-burn politics'' and said he would ``watch and see how Vice President Gore handles it.''

``It will be an indication of the kind of administration he might have should he win the vote,'' Bush said. ``It is unacceptable for her to have done that to two good people.''

Powell has been very popular since his role as America's military leader in the Persian Gulf War. He wrote that his involvement in numerous charities and youth organizations is intended ``to help feed, educate and spiritually nourish all of America's children, black and white, and not just for a photo op. And I do so as a Republican.''

He asked that the Gore campaign ``not start the new century by playing the polarizing 'race card' which immediately contaminates and destroys the opportunity for open debate on issues of importance to our children.''

Brazile's blunt comments have ruffled feathers before.

She resigned from the presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis in October 1988 after telling reporters they should check out personal rumors about then-Republican nominee George Bush, former president and father of the current GOP front-runner.

Earlier this year, Brazile said ``the four pillars of the Democratic Party are African-Americans, labor, women, and what I call other ethnic minorities.'' That comment prompted the moderate Democratic Leadership Council to caution the Gore campaign that such a view risked alienating moderates and independents.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, who was campaigning with Gore in Iowa Friday, said that congressional Republicans have not, by their record, ``been the voice of the voiceless, the dispossessed, or the minority.''

But the Massachusetts Democrat said Brazile's comments were unfortunate in terms of the ``individual references.''